REVIEW DATE: 18 May 2007
Vauxhall's Astra looks great in 3-door Sport Hatch guise. June Neary Checks it out..
This is quite simply the most stylish Vauxhall I've ever laid eyes on. And it's an Astra! I can't quite believe it. Vauxhall have been granted a huge degree of liberty in their styling of the Astra Sport Hatch model I'm looking at here by the success of the rest of their more versatile product lines. For every Meriva or Zafira the company sells to the family motorist, a potential Astra driver wants something with sleeker styling. The five-door Astra is a very neat piece of penmanship but the equivalently priced three-door Sport Hatch model knocks it into next week. Many of the design cues remain, as the two cars are, after all, built on the same platform. The broad hips, the high window line and the family-look front end are largely carried over, with the three-door merely accentuating these details.
The sloping roofline looks as if it'll have taller rear seat passengers entering the number of their chiropractor into the speed-dial but Vauxhall claims that rear seat space is well up to par for two adults. They just didn't specify what size. The rear seat is a conventional three-abreast bench with a practical 60:40 split system offered as standard or the alternative 40:20:40 layout available as an option. Luggage room is slightly hampered by that rakish roofline but given the cavernous amount of space in the back of the five-door Astra, it's hard to see carrying capacity being a reason to grumble.
There's a choice of four petrol and three diesel engines. The line-up kicks off with a 90bhp 1.4-litre petrol unit, alongside a 114bhp 1.6-litre and the familiar 125bhp 1.8-litre engine. The 180bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged unit is also offered although this is resoundingly trumped by the 240bhp 2.0-litre Turbo in the range-topping VXR performance variant. The entry-level 1.4 and 1.6-litre engines will use the Twinport technology as already seen on the Corsa whereby one of the two exhaust outlets are closed down at low revs to boost torque and improve fuel economy. Three diesel engines are available: a 1.7-litre 100bhp unit, plus beefy 120bhp and 150bhp 1.9-litre powerplants developed by Fiat. As would be expected, all three meet the Euro IV emissions regulations.
Yes, yes and again yes. And I never thought I'd be saying that about a Vauxhall Astra..
Astra models:
TIN TOP TWINTOP
BELGIAN BUNFIGHT
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
RING LEADER
A MORE GENEROUS ESTATE
CHARGE COOLER
HATCH ATTACK
VAN-ISHING POINT
ASTRA NOMICAL
WARM SPELL PREDICTED
HEAVY HITTERS
ASTRA FOCUSES ON THE NO. 1 SPOT
LANDING THE POPULAR VOTE
PURE AND SIMPLE
FUEL FOR THOUGHT
AUTOMATIC OPEN CHOICE
SOLAR COASTER
ENTRY LEVEL EXCELLENCE
Mon to Fri 9am-6pm
Sat 9am-5pm
Sun Closed